Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. A Szent István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 34. 2004 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (2005)

Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Zalai-Gaál, István: New evidence for the Cattle cult in the Neolithic of Central Europe. XXXIV. p. 7–40. T. I–XVII.

probably portrayed cows.

37 And we may certainly agree with Dieter Kaufmann that conditions in Çatal Hüyük were hardly identical with those in Central and South-East Europe.

38 Monumental figurai sculpture too implies a multifaceted set of beliefs and the worship of different deities, suggesting a complex religious system in the late Neolithic and Early Aeneolithic cultures of the Danube region and the Balkans. The religious beliefs of early farming communities are reflected in the many shared symbols; the appearance of sanctuaries and cult places are an indication of the parallel development of beliefs, cults and religions, which would only have been possible in the case of related populations and a common cultural background (Jovanovic 1991, 124). This view has been challenged by Dieter Kaufmann, who rejected the claim that the beliefs of Neolithic communities were populated by personified deities - in his view, these communities revered fertility in the image of a female being during this period (Kaufmann 1989, 133). Ina Wunn has argued that the cult of other deities can only be assumed from the Late Neolithic and that the origins of these deities should be sought in Mesopotamia.

39 Joris Peters and Klaus Schmidt explored the relation between early animal symbols and hunting rites, totemism, shamanism and mortuary practices in the light of the animal and human depictions from Göbekli Tepe (PetersSchmidt 2004, 179-218). THE FORMS OF THE CATTLE CULT IN THE SOUTH-EAST AND CENTRAL EUROPEAN NEOLITHIC The categorisation of the archaeological finds and features associated with some form of the cattle cult in Central and South-East Europe is a rather difficult task since The cattle depictions on the house walls of Çatal Hüyük portray animals with domed belly, as one would expect in the case of female animals. Ina Wunn believes that with the exception of the cattle in House VII 8 (Mellaart 1967, 200-204), the cattle depictions can be regarded as cows (Wunn 2001, 101; Röder-Hummel-Kunz 1996, 248). „Lassen die Angaben zur Ausstattung der Kulträume und Heiligtümer des südosteuropäischen Neolithikums den Eindruck zu, daß hinsichtlich der Ausstattung mit tiergestaltigen Kultgegenständen (Vorkommen vor allem von Bukranien) eine gewisse Monotonie vorherrscht ... so bieten über 40 Kulträume von Çatal Hüyük ein vielfältiges, ja geradezu verwirrendes Bild, das zwar nicht automatisch auf die Verhältnisse im mitteleuropäischen Neolithikum übertragen werden kann" (Kaufmann 1999, 340). „Diese Gottheit stand offensichtlich im Mittelpunkt eines häuslichen Kultes. Eventuell kann anhand von Statuettenfunden auch die beginnende Aufspaltung der ursprünglichen Urmutter in Sondergötter mit bereits persöhnlichen Eigenschaften abgelesen werden" (Wunn 2001, 122). there are no two instances with wholly identical features. Seven main categories can be distinguished (each with several sub-categories) among the archaeological finds and features described above. A. Aurochs and cattle remains occur in the following find assemblages: Ala: aurochs trophies deposited in a pit or on a „ploshchadka" occur in the Alföld Linear Pottery and the subsequent Tisza-Herpály cultures. This practice can also be noted in the Lengyel and Cucuteni cultures. Alb: the deposition of aurochs horns in a pit has been documented in the Tisza-Herpály and the Lengyel cultures, the two major cultural complexes of the Late Neolithic in the Carpathian Basin. Ale: aurochs skulls placed in human burials are known from the Starőevo and Körös periods, and the practice can be traced in burials of the western Linear Pottery and the Lengyel cultures. Aid: other skeletal parts of aurochs deposited in human burials are known from sites of the Lengyel and the succeeding Tiszapolgár culture. Ale: the same holds true for aurochs bones in settlement pits. Alf: cattle trophies set in clay benches are a characteristic feature of Çatal Hüyük. A2a: domestic cattle were first deposited in separate pits during the early Lengyel period, a custom which survived into the Tiszapolgár and Baden periods. A2b: the presence of several cattle skeletons or skeletal parts in one pit is a practice typical for the Tiszapolgár culture and the contemporary or later western and northern cultural complexes. A2c: several cattle trophies in the same pit have been recorded on settlements of the Stroke Ornamented Pottery culture. A2d: cattle bones in human burials are known from the Early Neolithic (Starcevo and Körös cultures), the Lengyel culture, the Cicarovce site, the Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztur cultures and the Hamangia culture. A2e: decorated cattle horn-cores can be quoted from the earliest western Linear Pottery distribution. A2f: skeletal parts of cattle found together with human skeletal parts in „special" contexts in burials have been documented in several instances at Cicarovce. A2g: skeletal part of cattle in a chest of stone slabs has been found on a site of the Stroke Ornamented Pottery. B. Incised and painted depictions Bi: an incised bull horn depiction from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic is known from the Sarakenos Cave. 27